14 Months Old!

We can't believe Natalie is already 2 months into her second year and getting more and more independent everyday. While she is still not walking full time, she has definitely made some progress over the last couple weeks. She can now take 10-20 steps at a time on her own and is relying less on us to hold her hands. However, once she falls, it's right back into crawling mode. We're hoping the duck push toy that Grandpa Tom made her is going to help her learn! The funny thing is, while she is very cautious about walking she LOVES to climb everything and anything - stairs, furniture, playground equipment - with no fear. She is also saying a couple of new words - "baby" and "more". The latter comes in very handy at dinnertime! She has also started trying to feed herself with a spoon as you can see makes her very happy but is also very messy :-)

On The Road

In mid-August we made the road trip up to Rochester for the wedding of Kaija's friend from high school, Greg, and to visit Grandma and Grandpa D! We had a great time at the wedding, catching up with friends and introducing Natalie to new ones (Callie (Dave and Tanya's daughter - pictured) and Aubrey (Brian and Rosa's daughter)). It was so much fun to watch the girls interact since they were born within 2 months of each other. We had a relaxing weekend - going to the farmer's market, the park and a quick dip in the pool (it was a bit cold for Natalie's liking!). We also headed up to Lake Ontario to walk along the lake. This is a special place for Kaija because her Mom liked going there, so it was nice to be able to share that with Natalie. We tell her all the time what a wonderful person her Grandma Kitty (Oma) was! There was also some exciting news to report out of our visit...Natalie is going to have a cousin Kaija's step-sister, Audrey, is due in March!